Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was on Meet the Press today, and when the topic of his 2008 running mate Sarah Palin’s resignation as Alaska governor came up. McCain defended Palin, and claimed that she didn’t quit. He said, “Oh, I don’t think she quit. I think she changed her priorities.” He also said that Palin didn’t break a promise to her supporters by resigning.
Here is the video:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Host David Gregory brought up the fact that McCain has a reputation for toughness and not quitting. McCain replied, “Oh, I don’t think she quit. I think she changed her priorities.” He then claimed she didn’t make a promise to voters to serve out her term, “I don’t know if there was a “promise,” but I do know that she will be an effective player on the national stage.”
McCain also defended his selection of her as his 2008 running mate, “But the fact is she is very popular with our Republican base. She will be a strong voice. I chose her because she was a reformer, because she beat an incumbent governor, she was a popular Republican of her own party, she ignited our base, she did a great job as my running mate even under the most sustained personal attacks that…in certainly recent American political history.”
McCain’s assertion that Palin is the most attacked politician in recent American history is laughable. George W. Bush was very polarizing and strongly attacked. Bush was called a draft dodger, and alcoholic, and a drug addict. Bill Clinton came under even more attack than Bush did. Clinton was called a murderer and a rapist. Republicans tried to remove him from office due to his personal conduct. Clinton is clearly the most personally attacked politician in recent history.
If Palin couldn’t handle some ethics complaints, how is she going to handle being under the microscope of the national media while running for president. She can’t hide from programs like Meet the Press and This Week. In 2012, she won’t have John McCain sitting beside her, and protecting her in interviews. It is interesting that McCain hedged his bets on Palin by saying that she will play a effective role in national politics.
Of course, she will play an effective role in the Republican Party, but saying that she will play an effective role is a lot different than saying that she is serious candidate for president. Rush Limbaugh plays an effective role in Republican politics, but he could never be elected president. Palin may be able to ride her personality to the nomination, but right now, she wouldn’t win a matchup with Obama.
Changing priorities may or may not be why Palin quit. It doesn’t alter the fact that Palin DID quit. Funny little attempt here to spin the semantics.
If you play the video with the sound off intermittently after playing it with sound the first time, and watch McCain’s face when he makes certain statement, the visual image doesn’t track with the words. His face doesn’t look at all like he believes what he is saying.
Neat trick to use when trying to tell if someone in an interview is being honest. Sometimes with the sound off – when you know what the words are that are being said – you can gain some startling insight into the honesty of the statements. Works a lot like the way that reading a speech, a statement, or other transcript can give a very different impression from seeing and hearing it.
[Reply]
Palin didn’ quit, she just changed priorities…
Yeah, and Clinton didn’t inhale, and he didn’t get any oral sex in the Oval Office.
And Bush was the best president this country has ever seen.
[Reply]
I’m an Alaska voter and feel my Governor has abandoned the state the moment she was asked to run with McCain. Her supporters aren’t her constituency, the people and State she swore an Oath to are. What’s that say about a devout “christian” who breaks an Oath?
[Reply]
It’s nice to hear what an Alaskan thinks about this. What the rest of us think is less important; Palin was never OUR governor.
And thankfully she was never our vice president or president either, LOL.
[Reply]